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September 17, 2011

The double kiss

Still to this day, I cannot seem to get the double kiss down properly. I have almost smooched several people (who I wouldn't want to kiss) straight on the lips because I can never remember to "Go Right First". I always lean in to say hello and kiss on the left side. To add matters worse, I noticed last night that I also add the kissing sound "Mwah!" when I am greeting or saying goodbye to people. I will have to investigate further to see if this offends people here in Italy. For me, I think its pretty darn funny.

There are so many different rules here, so its hard to keep them all straight. Do I double kiss everytime? Or only with people you have met before? To strangers? Or is a sturdy handshake good enough for your first encounter. What I have been told is that it is common to double kiss a friend that you haven't seen in a long time, but you wouldn't necessarily double kiss a total stranger.

Also, I think its ab.so.lut.ely amazing that the men double kiss their friends, and it ain't no big deal! Can you imagine two American guys doing this in public? Nope! Bravo to the Italian men for being okay with being intimate gestures, especially in public.

I love it! I have a hard time with the double kiss greeting too. I'm a hugger. I always want to just hug everyone, not kiss them. And I'm like you, if I do kiss them, I find myself either making or almost making the 'mwah' kiss sound. So funny!

Ciao, I'm Christy

Welcome to my blog! I am a southern American woman who moved to Florence, Italy and married a southern Italian man. I write about all things Italian, photography, yoga, our life in the United States & Italy and most importantly...being a new mamma.